Package



Nov. 119, 1968 TOKUJI sAn'b ET A1. 3,411,619

PACKAGE Filed Nov. 21. 1966 FIG. 34'

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FIG. 35

United States Patent 3,411,619 PACKAGE Tokuji Saito, Kikuo Kubo, and KinKato, Uotsu-shi, and

Hachiro Nagashima, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo, Japan, assignors to NipponCarbide Kogyo Kabushiki-Kaisha, Tokyo, Japan, a corporation of JapanFiled Nov. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 595,921 Claims priority, applicationJapan, Nov. 27, 1965, 40/ 96,040 Claims. (Cl. 206-65) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A package for an even number of cylindrical articles arrangedin rows comprising a plastic support member which is a fiat elongatedsheet between the rows of the articles running along the length thereofbut slightly shorter than the entire length of the rows. There is a handgrip at one end with a plurality of projections protrudingperpendicularly to the plane of the support member and slidablelengthwise within the package. The hand grip may be pulled out and isaccessible in that position. The device is completed by a heatshrinkable plastic film wider than the width of the articles in a rowwhich is wrapped around the entire assembly (including the supportmember) whereby on heat sealing and heating the film shrinks to providea tight grip on the article.

The invention elates to a package for cylindrical articles such as canscontaining beverage or food, and more particularly, to such packageincluding a support member which is interposed between rows of thearticles for securing the latter, said support member having endportions which serve as a handle when carrying the package.

Heretofore, cans containing beverage have been packaged in an open boxmade of carton or the like with the cans partly exposed or they havebeen packed in a closed box. Such package had disadvantages that itcannot be directly immersed into water for cooling, that it is notadapted for storage as stacked in a freezer, and that when cans arepacked in an open box, the top part of the bottle with which human mouthcomes in touch is exposed so that the package is unsanitary.

The invention overcomes above disadvantages by providing a package inwhich cylindrical articles are arranged side by side in rows, a supportmember being interposed between the rows and the assembly being wrappedby a plastic gum with a portion of the wrapping left open to permitpulling out either end of the support member.

The invention Will be described more in detail with reference to thedrawing showing the embodiments of the invention, wherein FIG. 1 is asection through the package according to the invention, the sectionbegin taken along a plane perpendicular to the length of articles,

FIG. 2 is another section of the package, the plane of the section beingnormal to that of FIG. 1, the section illustrating the end opening ofthe wrapping,

FIGS. 3a to Be show various configurations of the support member whichmay be used in the package of the invention,

FIG. 4 is a cross-section of the support member, and

FIG. 5 is a section similar to FIG. 1 wherein the support member ispulled outside the package to provide a grip.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a support member 1 having lateralprojections 2 on both sides and spaced apart along its length. As shownin 'FIG. 3a, the support member may comprise a rectangular frame ofmaterials such as rubber and synthetic resins, for example, poly- 'iceethylene, polypropylene, vinyl chloride, phenol or melamine.Alternatively, it may be made from aluminum or light and stainlessalloy. In FIG. 3a, the projections 2 are positioned to divide the lengthof the support member into three segments of substantially equal length,so that when cylindrical articles 4 to be packaged are assembled withthe support member, the projections interspace the articles. Theassembly is then placed on an elongated sheet of heat-shrinking, plasticfilm 3 which is arranged lengthwise in a direction perpendicular to thelength of the support member. The sheet has a width somewhat greaterthan the length defined by width or diameter of several articles alignedcrosswise in a row. The length of the sheet should be sufiicient to wrapthe assembly in a direction transverse to the length of the supportmember 1, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the wrapped articlessuch as cans.

The plastic film is heat-sealed at its longitudinal ends with its bothsides left open. Then heat is applied to the entire film to causeheat-shrinkage. In order to hold fast the assembly with a shrunk film 3and thus to form an integral package, the plastic film used should behighly heat-shrinkable. Synthetic resins such as polyethylene,polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride or the like are suitable as materialsof the plastic film. Preferably such film is a mono-axially stretchedfilm. Alternatively, a film may be used which is mono-axially stretchedand also stretched transversely to a certain degree. It will beappreciated that the assembly comprising of rows of cans having thesupport member interposed therebetween is wrapped by the plastic filmhaving the longitudinal direction which coincides with the direction ofstretch and runs transversely to the length of the support member. Thuswhen heat shrinkage of the film occurs, the film shrinks most eminentlylengthwise, thereby tightly binding the whole assembly. Simultaneously,close adherence of the film to the end faces of the articles willeffectively seal capsules or top faces of cans which are later opened toserve their content, thereby preventing any contamination from theseportions. The side edges of the film project initially, namely, beforeheat-shrinkage, externally of the outer articles, thereby forming a pairof rectangular pipes on both sides, and are caused, upon heat-shrinkage,to press against the latter to urge outer articles inwardly. At the sametime, end openings 5, 5' will be formed in the wrapping film.

The resulting package is compact and can be carried by hand asillustrated in FIG. 5 by pulling out the end portion of the supportmember 1 from between the articles. When the end portion of the supportmember is pulled out, the projections 2 engage the inner lower faces ofthe articles as these faces are seen in FIG. 5, thereby serving asstops. In the vertical position of the package shown in FIG. 5, fourarticles are thus carried by the support member. The two lowest articlesare held together by contraction of side edges of the film which overliethe shoulder of the articles. Therefore, the film 3 must be made ofmaterials and have a thickness such that it can withstand the tensiondue to the weight of those articles which are not supported by theprojections 2.

Although the package is provided with end openings at its top and bottomfor convenience of taking out the grip from either side, the supportmember can not slip through the articles, since the projections 2 serveas stops. If desired, the package may be provided with a single endopening 5. Obviously, the material of the film may be transparent tomake the design of the article visible, or it may be colored.

Although six articles are assembled in the package shown, it should beapparent that the number of articles contained in one package may bechanged as desired, the

only requirement being that the support member 1 has an increased numberof projections 2 so that the articles may be properly carried by thesupport member 1. When the number of articles packaged is high, theprojections 2 need not be provided in each interstice betweensuccessively adjacent articles in a row, but they can be located in eachsecond interstice. In such case, the projections 2 may be arranged insuch manner that the support member has a projection only on one sidethereof in an interstice of a given level, while it has a projection onthe other side in an interstice of next higher or lower level. However,all the projections may be provided only on one side of the supportmember without causing inconvenience or distortion of the package. Itwill be appreciated that the support member has a buffering actionbetween two rows of articles for effectively absorbing vibration duringtransport. In order to prevent the contact or abutment of the annularrims of adjacent cans, the support member 1 should have a thicknesswhich is at least twice as great as the thickness of such rim. In thisway, clicking or breaking loose of the articles is effectively avoided.

As shown in FIGS. 3a to 3e, the support member can take variousconfigurations. The configurations shown in FIGS. 3a to 30 have arelatively large space for free circulation of cooling medium throughthe openings 5, 5 so that a high cooling efficiency is obtained in thisembodiment. When the weight of articles 4 to be carried by the supportmember is high, it is desirable to choose a support member ofconfigurations such as shown in FIGS. 3d and 3e in order to increase itsmechanical strength. Although any other shape may be chosen for thesupport member, preferably it should be of configuration which surroundor enclose a substantial area so that it maintains the buffering action.It will be understood that when the support member is narrow in width,it might shift toward one end of the articles and the buffering actionwill not be produced at the other end. Such disadvantage can be overcomeby using a support member having a substantial width. Furthermore, it isdesirable to choose the length of the support member slightly shorterthan the length defined by the width of several articles arranged sideby side in a row. Thus it is avoided that when the packages are stackedone above the other, the support member of a package protrudgesoutwardly to engage the wrapping film of an adjacent package, therebycausing a damage of the latter.

The package can be conveniently stacked in a box or container fortransport or it can be directly immersed into water for cooling purpose.In use, the film 3 can be cut by knife at a line of intersection with aplane passing through the projection 2 and transversely to the supportmember, thereby separating a pair of articles. The remaining package iseffective to hold the rest of articles together, since the film holdsfast the cylindrical articles by its eminent contraction in itslongitudinal direction, that is, lengthwise 0f the articles.

What is claimed is:

1. A package including even number of cylindrical articles which arearranged side by side in rows, comprising a support member of plasticmaterial and consisting of flat, elongated sheet interposed between rowsof said articles, said support member having its length runningtransversely to the length of said articles, said length being slightlyshorter than the total width of said articles, said member having atleast one hand-grip formed at its either end and having a plurality oflateral projections interspacing said articles, said projectionsprotruding perpendicularly to the plane of said support member, saidmember being slidable lengthwise within said package, whereby saidmember is normally retracted within said package, said hand-gripaccessible only when pulled out, and a heat shrinkable, plastic film ofWidth greater than the length defined by the width of said articles in arow and of sufiicient length to wrap around the assembly of the articlesand the support member in the longitudinal direction of the articles,thereby allowing its longitudinal end portions to be heat-sealedtogether, said plastic film being previously monoaxially stretched sothat upon heat shrinkage of the film, the latter hold together theassembly with its side edges forming end openings for providing accessto said hand-grip and completely wrapping and sealing said articles.

2. A package according to claim 1 in which said plastic film is furtherstretched transversely.

3. A package according to claim 1 in which said articles are cylindricalcans having protuberant annular rims at the ends thereof and whereinsaid support member has a thickness which is at least twice as great asthe height of said protuberant rim, whereby the support member serves asa buffering element for said cans.

4. A package according to claim 1, in which said lateral projections areprovided solely on one side of the plane of said support member.

5. A package according to claim 1, in which six cylindrical cans arearranged in two rows.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS MARTHA L. RICE, Primary Examiner.

